Inheritance
by Redderhead
Summary: Both of our favourite characters are struggling for money - or so John thought. Story dedicated to ForeverShippingJohnlock. Thank you for reading. John/Sherlock. Rated T, but unsure.


Inheritance

_The trouble with Brother's, lovers and money._

_As much as I would love to own Sherlock, I don't. _

_I would like to dedicate this story – however ridiculous it may be – to the lovely ForeverShippingJohnlock; thank you for your very kind words and your full appreciation of my work._

"The thing is, Mycroft, we are really struggling" John said honestly, laying his hands on the café table in front of him.

"You've been this way before" Mycroft stated dully from across the table.

"That was when I could get a job. Your brother got me an ASBO and the sack within one week of each other." John said tiredly, looking around the empty café furtively.

Mycroft waved an unimportant hand "No matter, John, I wiped those from your record as soon as Sherlock told me."

John's jaw dropped and he retracted his hands.

"You were actually going to ask me for money, weren't you?" Mycroft asked in an amused tone.

"Well, I don't know. You just seem, well, you seem rich and Sherlock isn't." John started. "He's too proud to ask for money, so I thought I would"

"And you thought my brother wouldn't find out?" Mycroft asked interestedly.

"I hoped not for a while anyway" John said in a futile tone of voice.

Mycroft took a sip of his tea and an expression of disgust overcame his face as he placed the cup back down onto the table.

"Of course, there is always the inheritance money" Mycroft drawled in thought.

"Inheritance money?" John asked curiously.

"Yes." Mycroft started, looking unimpressed as always "2.1 million pounds sterling" he continued.

John's jaw dropped.

"Only problem is, that Daddy put it in his will as a marriage only inheritance" Mycroft stilled as his phone chimed within his pocket, reaching a hand in, Mycroft tended to the text immediately. John used this distraction to his advantage and gathered himself together.

"Marriage only?" John queried when the phone had once more reached his pocket.

"Yes, Sherlock has to marry in order to receive the money." Mycroft continued.

"How did you -?" John was about to ask when Mycroft offered his left hand, displaying a gold band on his wedding finger. "You're married?" John asked incredulously.

Mycroft sniffed and straightened his collar.

"How do you think Sherlock was allowed to help the police?" Mycroft asked dully.

"Lestrade" John said in a whispered realisation.

"It was a long time ago" Mycroft said, looking down at the table distractedly.

"Was it for the right reasons?" John asked curiously.

"If you get Sherlock to marry" Mycroft changed the subject "you will be set up for life". Mycroft made to put his coat back on. "Good day, John".

~0~

"Mycroft told you about the inheritance, didn't he?" The familiar baritone asked from the front room.

John sighed as he reached the top step of their flat and opened the door to reveal a very comfortable looking Sherlock Holmes.

"Yes, he did" John said making his way toward his own armchair.

"If you attempt in any way to seek a partner for me, John, I will never speak to you again" Sherlock threatened.

"If only" John muttered with a dark look toward his shoes.

"I will never get married. I make my own way in the world, John. I don't need my father's money" Sherlock said as he sat up on the couch and faced John determinedly.

"You'd rather live like this; sharing one tin of beans between us for the rest of our days?" John asked.

"I don't eat on a case" Sherlock stated dully.

"Yes, but after the case you would eat the cupboards if they were made of something edible" John justified.

"Then I will eat the cupboards" Sherlock said seriously.

"My god" John sighed heavily.

"What do you suggest then, John? That I marry Mrs Hudson?" Sherlock asked with a sarcastic laugh.

"Well, you could…" John said, thinking on it seriously.

"Next you are going to suggest I marry you" Sherlock stated dully, looking at the coffee table.

John flicked his head toward Sherlock in awe.

"Sherlock" John started, his face all too easy for the detective to read.

"It's a bad idea, John" Sherlock said firmly.

"But Mycroft gave me permission to ask you" John said, realising for the first time the impact of Mycrofts' words; 'if you get Sherlock to marry, YOU will be set up for life'.

"John. Your life will be ruined by this. My fathers will states quite clearly that I must be married a full year before I receive that money" Sherlock said, now pointing at John with a firm index finger.

"So? I could marry you, Sherlock, please, let me marry you?" John asked.

Sherlock cocked his head and surveyed his flatmate. "I didn't know you were a money-grabbing man, John" he said teasingly.

"I'm desperate and I'm your flatmate. Think of all the things you could do with that money, Sherlock. Your business could still operate from here but you could live in the country. You could work for the police all you wanted without needing to get paid. I could come with you on cases without needing to work, we could pay Mrs Hudson for the entire year rather than in bits and pieces." John continued.

Sherlock surveyed John from this side of the room. His powerful brain working his own reasons for this situation, the good definitely outweighed the bad on this particular train of thought. The one reason that kept repeating itself was that John wouldn't be able to leave him.

As John continued to ramble, Sherlock made his way across the room and knelt in front of John.

"Marry me" was all he said.

John smiled widely and laughed gleefully.

"Yes! Yes yes yes yes!" the soldier said in amongst his laughter.

~0~

"This is crazy" John said as he and Sherlock exited their taxi and slowly climbed the many steps into the registry office.

"Can't change your mind now, John. It's all been sorted. Don't worry, nothing will change, we will effectively be flatmates for a guaranteed 12 months." Sherlock mused as they opened the doors and headed inside.

Using Mycroft and Lestrade as witnesses proved beneficial as Sherlock and John knew they wouldn't dare spread the word.

The only thing that was a surprise was the fact that Mycroft had bought rings.

"It's in the Will, Sherlock, surely you remember?" Mycroft asked, flashing his own ring once more.

Sherlock, without ceremony, gave John one silver band and slipped the other on his own ring finger.

~0~

Afterwards, the two headed for Angelo's for a celebratory lunch.

"So, what's on for the rest of the day? I'm thinking of going to get a job over on the west -" John started but was interrupted.

"You're coming with me to Essex" Sherlock said bluntly.

"Essex?" John asked incredulously.

"Website enquiry this morning. Now that we have some funds to get us comfortably through our year together, we can go this evening by train." Sherlock justified, grasping some pasta on his fork before delicately lifting it to his mouth.

"We have funds?" John asked hopefully.

"Yes, a deposit if you like, part of the deal." Sherlock said blandly.

"How much?" John asked excitedly.

"Enough" Sherlock said with a small smile.

~0~

The pair did indeed go to Essex, and pick up a case. Sherlock solved it in little more than four hours before the pair headed to a local hotel.

Surprise, surprise, the only room they had left was an Executive Double, they took it without a fuss.

"What are you doing?" John asked as he stretched out between the sheets, enjoying the 5 star quality comfort of the room.

"Composing" Sherlock stated as he leaned against the wall sized window of their room.

"But, you don't have your violin?" John asked curiously.

"I do not need it" Sherlock replied.

John watched Sherlock until his eye lids became too heavy to keep open and he drifted into a peaceful slumber.

~0~

Upon waking, John was surprised to be faced with a bare back. Reaching out a sleepy hand, John ran his hand over his bed mates' spine, still not completely awake, John allowed his hand to curl round to his trophies' stomach and pull the person toward him.

It wasn't until John snuggled his face into the back of the neck in front of him that he remembered just where and who he was with.

Deciding not to move too quickly; John kept his place, inhaling the surprisingly comforting smell of his flatmate/husband.

Sherlock, if he was awake, was not making a sound, the only movement appeared to be his diaphragm as he inhaled and exhaled peacefully.

Indeed, John was so comfortable that he went back to sleep buried deep behind the consulting detective.

"Housekeeping!" Came the call from the service maid. John lurched awake as the warm and safe sleeping position was compromised. John watched, sleepily, as Sherlock got up from the bed and padded over to the door.

"Go away" Sherlock said bluntly through the crack in the door.

John laughed and stretched freely between the sheets.

A very flat haired Sherlock came back into view and clambered between the sheets once more. John laughed lightly as the detective flumped down making the whole mattress move.

"John" Sherlock said, wincing in the daylight filled room.

"Yep" John answered.

No more words were exchanged as Sherlock moved back ward and John moved forward to achieve their original position once more.

~0~

Waking up later on, John opened his eyes to a dark room and immediately filled with panic. Just as he whipped the duvet from him, the door of the room opened and closed. John covered himself up hastily and turned round.

"I booked us in for another two nights" Sherlock said in his usual mind-reading way.

John laughed and smiled happily. "Thank you" He said.

"Your welcome" Sherlock said stiffly as he placed a full polystyrene cup holder down on the glass table in the window.

"What did you get?" John asked, sitting down on the bed once more, the duvet wrapped securely round him.

"Tea, and scones" Sherlock said with a smile.

"Lovely, my god, it's 7pm!" John exclaimed startled as he looked at the clock.

"Hence the extra two nights" Sherlock explained.

"We should go out tonight" John mused as he looked out of the window onto the city around.

"Out?" Sherlock asked dubiously.

"Yes, into town. We could explore, have a pint and make a holiday of it" John said with a smile.

"On the one condition" Sherlock said with a raised index finger to his lips.

"Anything" John said happily.

"We stay in tomorrow night" Sherlock said quietly.

"Deal" John said hastily. "I'm going to get in the shower then" he said with a wide smile.

"There are some clothes in the bathroom for you. I took the liberty of buying you some when I went out earlier" Sherlock said quietly, lying in the comfortable armchair in the window.

"Oh, thank you" John said, taken aback. "Do you want the shower first?" He asked gently.

"No, I showered at the pool downstairs" Sherlock replied.

"You went to the pool?" John asked incredulously.

"Of course" Sherlock said in the tone usually reserved for 'obviously'.

"Ok, well, I won't be long then" John said gently, backing into the en-suite and closing the door. Once showered, John opened the suit bag that was hanging on the back of the bathroom door.

John re-entered the bedroom to see Sherlock fiddling with a cufflink on his black fitted shirt. The dark jeans he wore hardly left anything to the imagination as they fit to every angle of his hips and rear. The smell of the detective could only be described as delectable.

"Hugo Boss Blue. What do you think?" Sherlock asked uncharacteristically as he approached John.

"Very nice" John replied genuinely.

"Good because I got you Hugo Boss Blue, I am wearing Hugo Boss Orange" Sherlock said smoothly, reaching out to fix the neck on John's new white polo neck.

"You knew didn't you? You knew I'd want to go out tonight" John said incredulously.

"Obviously" Sherlock murmured, continuing his attentions to John's new jumper.

"Exactly how much money did you get as a deposit?" John asked with a small smirk.

Sherlock's hands stilled mid-movement as he brushed John's shoulders down. "Enough" He said again, replying to John's smirk in kind.

The city was nice – well, the part that Sherlock kept them to was nice – John had never been to Essex before and wasn't surprised that Sherlock had.

They first went for dinner at an Italian's, to where the pair drank a little wine and ate a full two course meal each. John managed to coax Sherlock into visiting a pub with him afterward, a pub in which the pair got into an extremely deep discussion about psychology. The pub after that was a little less busy and did not stock lager; after 3 cocktails and shots, the two began a serious conversation about ducklings.

Deciding to head back to their hotel, Sherlock grasped John's hand and they stumbled together in the direction of their temporary accommodation. Entering the lobby could only be described as difficult.

"Sherrr-lock" John hiccupped "the door doesn't open, see, you push it" he continued matter-of-factly, pushing the swivel door and succeeding in getting smacked by the panel behind him. "ouch" he said, rubbing his shoulder.

"John" Sherlock slurred "I want to swim, can we swim?" he asked nigh incomprehensibly.

"Of course." John said, still trying to navigate the lobby door. "of course we can, Sher-" John mumbled as he fell through and into the lobby itself.

The reception staff watched on amusedly as the two men made their way – albeit slowly – toward the lifts and tried to navigate toward the spa and pool below.

To no-ones surprise the pool was empty at 2am on a Monday morning. John laughed hysterically as Sherlock stripped to the skin and jumped in the pool.

When the doctor realised that Sherlock was not resurfacing, he did the same.

"Got you" Sherlock said as he resurfaced just as John emerged.

"Sherlock" John said crossly.

"How else was I going to get you in the pool?" Sherlock asked dead-pan toned.

"You could have _asked_" John said, splashing Sherlock.

"So, you saying I should ask before I do anything?" Sherlock slurred a little, moving toward John in the shoulder deep water.

"Yes" John said, nodding and almost drowning.

"Can I kiss you?" Sherlock asked drunkenly.

"You don't have to ask me for that" John said quietly before realising he'd said it.

Without much warning, Sherlock dipped below the water and lifted John to him, their lips meeting in their first kiss in the centre of a hotel spa pool.

John quickly lost track of how long they stayed like that, lost in the feeling of being so close to Sherlock, he wrapped his legs around the taller mans' to secure himself before threading his hands between the wet strands of dark hair on Sherlock's head.

"Excuse me" Came a localised accent. The two broke apart and looked up to see that there was a body attached to the voice. "Excuse me, Sirs, but you can't be in here. The pool closed at 10." The young lad tried again.

"Oh, ok, sorry, we'll be out in a minute" John said, trying to control his laughter as Sherlock had turned his attentions to the soldier's neck.

"You'll have to leave now, Gentlemen" The boy said bravely.

"Ok, ok, come on Sherlock" John slurred, extricating himself from the younger man. As John climbed the ladder out of the pool the young man left.

By the time the two men were mis-matchedly dressed and in the lift heading for their floor, they were fighting sleep.

Eventually they found their room and fell in through the door to find their room made up since they had left that evening. Quickly destroying the tidy bed clothes, they each climbed in between the sheets and resumed the positions of the night before, falling into drunken slumbers.

~0~

The morning was painful for both parties. John, not only had the 'hangover from hell' but was also suffering from a dead arm and leg from the weight of his flatmate. Sherlock was refusing to move, simply burrowing his head into the pillow above John's head.

Eventually, John managed to wiggle out from under his partner and get to the bathroom rather shakily.

Upon his return, Sherlock still had not moved.

"Come on, get up, lets go and have breakfast, we need it to settle our stomachs" John said gruffly, his voice all gravel and husk.

"No" Sherlock said into the pillow.

"Come on" John urged, man-handling the taller man over onto his back. "It'll be nice" John said, leaning over Sherlock.

Without warning, Sherlock pulled John off his feet and onto himself, holding him down.

"Sherlock" John warned, but unable to fight back due to the pins and needles now rotating in his limbs; he just lay willingly, resting his head on the younger mans' collar bone.

"Last night" John started after a moment of silence, without knowing how to continue.

"We were inebriated" Sherlock finished shortly.

John remained quiet, but the sinking feeling inside his stomach told him everything he needed to know.

"Sherlock" John started again, glad that his face was hidden.

"Yes John?" Sherlock asked, raising his left arm to lay a hand on John's shoulder blade.

"Does it complicate things when one of us falls for the other?" John asked quietly, his whole body suddenly aware of the nerves he now held.

"Complicate things?" Sherlock asked, opening his eyes and raising an eyebrow toward the ceiling.

"Well, yeah, our agreement. You'll surely want to leave me because…well, it would seem I've fallen for you" John said numbly.

"Why would I leave you when I have felt that way for months?" Sherlock asked dully.

John raised his head now.

"You…you feel the same way? About me?" John asked incredulously.

"This is all so cryptic. John, you are invaluable to me. I cannot see a life without you. When you walk into the room, you are all I see. My guard was down last night thanks to the alcohol, and I acted without thought. Something I have wanted to do for many months" Sherlock said rather quietly.

John smiled. "I didn't know, but I feel the same." The doctor replied.

"Good" Sherlock finished, smiling down at John.

After a moment or two of silence, Sherlock's smile transformed into a smirk.

"John" Sherlock asked.

"Yep" John replied.

"I wouldn't say no to Breakfast now".

~0~

Sherlock and John went out after a hearty breakfast, Sherlock took John to each of the museums and surprisingly paid for everything – even an afternoon tea and a full three course meal for dinner.

John decided to challenge Sherlock over dinner.

"You didn't just get a deposit did you?" the soldier stated boldly.

Sherlock looked over John's shoulder at the couple seated behind him.

"Fascinating, that woman has never worn a necklace in her life" Sherlock mused as he continued to stare.

"Sherlock" John called, getting the attention back to himself.

"When we married, you got the full amount didn't you?" John asked again.

"A deposit" Sherlock said blandly.

"How much?" John asked curiously.

Sherlock smiled and met John's eyes; "Enough" he replied.

"By 'enough' do you mean over half of the full amount?" John asked.

"When Mycroft told you of the inheritance; he had forgotten about the 23 years worth of interest." Sherlock said quietly, watching for John's reaction closely.

"Oh. My. -" John gasped

"9.6 million" Sherlock said huskily.

"Is it bad that that makes me want you right now?" John asked in a whisper.

"Skip dessert?" Sherlock asked with a smirk.

John smiled rather seductively in reply.

"Bill please" Sherlock shouted out focusing on the nearest member of staff.

~0~

Sherlock was fast paced as he marched out of the restaurant and into the street, John nearly ran in order to keep close to the taller man. Low and behold the next car in danger of running the two over was an empty taxi. The taxi ride was tense as the two sat by side, the only thing touching being their knees.

"I have to, erm, I have to go to the bathroom" John said awkwardly as they entered their hotel room. Sherlock nodded curtly before closing the door behind them and unbuttoning his coat.

John brushed his teeth, combed his hair and visited the toilet before he opened the ensuite door and entered the dark bedroom once more.

Sherlock lay invitingly, his trousers tight, his purple shirt unbuttoned, on the shezlong in front of the very large city-view windows. Much like he had done the previous night; but now John saw a completely different side to the picture.

The doctor unbuttoned his shirt as he walked toward Sherlock determinedly, shamelessly enjoying the attention the younger man was now giving him.

Sherlock continued to watch John closely, his eyes dark and his mouth wanting.

"Bed or Shezlong" John demanded to know, his voice deep and his eyes narrowed.

A shiver ran through the tall detective and he got to his feet.

"Oh I think it should be done properly, don't you?" Sherlock asked, walking toward John and meeting him at the foot of the bed.

John minutely nodded his head toward the bed signalling the younger man to sit on the mattress. Sherlock followed orders immediately and sat without complaint.

The doctor continued with his own shirt buttons before finishing off the detectives', stepping closer to the bed, John made his way between Sherlock's legs and stopped when chest met chest.

"I need you so much right now" John whispered huskily, studying Sherlock's eyes and mouth.

"Take what you need" Sherlock whispered back watching his words affect the only man in the world that mattered to him.

John kissed him then, smooth and needy; his hands reaching up to cup each cheek bone on Sherlock's face.

Sherlock, unused to the passion being shown to him, wrapped his long and slender fingers around the soldier's hips and pulled him minutely closer.

After a passionate exchange, Sherlock frowned and pushed John a little away.

John looked down with a frown, his breath short in his throat.

"My phone" Sherlock said in a way of explanation.

"What?" A puzzled John Watson asked.

Sherlock reached behind him into his trousers' back pocket and retrieved his phone.

After a minute or two of silence, John braved the question.

"What is it?" He asked, his hands idly playing in the mass of dark curls atop Sherlock's head.

Sherlock tilted his head back to look up at John with a familiar glint in his sky blue eyes and a wild smile on his face.

"Where is the body?" The doctor asked with a smirk.

"London" Sherlock murmured reaching up to claim a kiss from his Husband.

"Let's get packed then?" John prompted, turning away from the consulting detective, his hands dropping to his sides.

Sherlock was quicker than light as he hopped from the bed and grasped John's arm, turning the older man toward him and taking an impossible step closer.

"There is yet another hour before the next train, Doctor" Sherlock murmured, his eyes half lidded as they stared intensely down at his prey.

John's knees gave in and he landed heavily chest to chest with the taller man.

"I'll take that as consent" Sherlock whispered into John's ear.

The detective carefully lifted the soldier into his arms and lay him just as gently onto the bed.

"Now, where to begin" He murmured thoughtfully, his hands clasped together at his mouth.

~The End~


End file.
